Oct 4, 2014; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers receiver Sammie Coates (18) gets past LSU Tigers linebacker Kendell Beckwith (52) during the first half at Jordan Hare Stadium. Auburn beat LSU 41-7. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
Last night, the Auburn Tigers blasted the LSU Tigers at home in front of a sold out crowd at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn is now 5-0 on the season, and increased their record to 2-0 in the SEC with the 41-7 win, which tied for the largest in the series. Also, the big victory provides Auburn with an argument to be ranked No. 1 in the land this week following a series of upsets among the top six teams in the county. Who stood out from the big SEC West showdown? Here are Fly War Eagle’s Auburn Players of the Game:
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Nick Marshall
Senior quarterback Nick Marshall was outstanding for the Auburn Tigers Saturday. In the first half alone, Marshall accounted for four touchdowns – two passing and two rushing.
By the time he was relieved by Jeremy Johnson in the fourth quarter, Marshall had completed 14 of 22 passing attempts for 207 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Always a threat to run, the quarterback also had 119 yards on the ground on 16 attempts, including two scores.
Cameron Artis-Payne
Another senior, Cameron Artis-Payne continued his strong start to the season. Artis-Payne carried the football 24 times for 126 yards and was stopped behind the line only once. He did not find the end zone against LSU, but CAP is averaging a robust 118.8 yards per game through the first five ballgames of the season. Multi-talented, Cameron Artis-Payne also contributed in the passing game with three catches for 35 yards.
Sammie Coates
Earlier in the week, I shared some thoughts that it was time for Sammie Coates to step up – and boy did he. Coates looked like the healthy and explosive receiver from 2013 for most of the night as he hauled in a career-high 144 yards and a touchdown on four receptions. The junior scored the first touchdown of the night on a long 56-yard bomb from Nick Marshall in the first quarter, then utilized his great speed to create yards after the catch to set his personal best in receiving yards – which broke the record he set against LSU last year.
Offensive Line
Playing with a new starting lineup because last week’s injury to Patrick Miller caused him to miss Saturday’s game, the Auburn offensive line was dominant much of the night against the Bayou Bengals. Auburn averaged 6.1 yards per carry on 49 rushing attempts, and gained 7.6 yards per play throughout the game. The offense racked up an impressive 566 yards of total offense, and quarterback Nick Marshall was sacked just once by a talented LSU defense that features several players that will make their living playing professional football.
Auburn Defense
It may be a cop out to select the entire Auburn defense as players of the game, but the performance the unit put together last night was tremendous from top to bottom. The only real hiccup was the 75-yard LSU touchdown drive in the first quarter which featured a 52-yard completion from Brandon Harris to Malachi Dupre. However, it was easily the best thing Harris would do all night. The true freshman, perhaps rattled by an amazing Auburn crowd in his first career start, managed to complete just 3-of-14 passing attempts for 58 yards before being replaced by Anthony Jennings, who was 5-of-10 for 84 yards.
Betsided
The LSU rushing attack ran for only 138 yards on 36 carries – a 3.8-yard average. Leonard Fournetted was the leading rusher with 45 yards on ten attempts, and Auburn held the LSU Tigers to 280 total yards. The most impressive feat though, was the performance on third and fourth downs.
LSU had 13 first downs in the game (six rushing, three passing and four via penalty), but Auburn was incredibly stingy on third and fourth downs. In fact, LSU failed to convert a single time – going 0-for-13 on third down attempts and 0-for-2 on fourth.
Individually, Robenson Therezie, Cassanova McKinzy and Johnathan Ford all tied for the team lead with six total tackles. Therezie and Ford each had a tackle for a loss, and Ford was credited with a sack. Kris Frost had four tackles, two of which were stops for a loss, and seven players factored in for seven total TFLs as a unit.
The defensive line kept LSU quarterbacks under constant pressure, and the defense had ten quarterback hurries over the course of the game. Gabe Wirght had three, while Elijah Daniel, DaVonte Lambert and Montravius Adams were each credited with two hurries.
Overall, the 41-7 win over LSU was a statement for Auburn. The Tigers played a great game on offense, defense and special teams, and made a case to be the top ranked team in the nation. We’ll find out today how high their stock soared with an impressive SEC West victory.